Official figures show Australian wages continue to grow at the slowest pace in 15 years.

The Bureau of Statistics wage price index rose by 0.7 per cent in the March quarter, seasonally-adjusted.

That puts annual wage growth at 2.6 per cent, which was as most economists expected.

The pace of wage growth is also below inflation, with the most recent consumer price index rising a steeper 2.9 per cent in the year to March.

That indicates that, on average, Australians' real incomes - what they can buy with their wages - are falling.

However, ANZ senior economist Riki Polygenis says lower wage growth already appears to be filtering through to slower price growth, and is also likely to keep interest rates at record lows until at least early next year.

"We continue to forecast modest wage outcomes over the coming two years as firms and governments continue to focus on cost minimisation and as labour market conditions remain subdued," she wrote in a note on the data.

"For monetary policy, soft growth in wages is encouraging from an inflation perspective.

"Non-tradables (services) inflation has now started to respond to lower wage costs (with a lag) and this process will continue in coming years, helping to offset higher tradables (goods) inflation from the weakening in the Australian dollar through 2013."

Public sector wages rose by 0.8 per cent in the quarter, while private sector wages grew by point 0.6 per cent.